The hot stove was cold. Frozen, really. Blame the polar vortex or Alex Rodriguez, a force of nature all his own. But it had been weeks since a big-name free agent was signed and a handful of former All-Stars still remained on the market.

Then, Masahiro Tanaka chose his team.

It wasn’t quite as dramatic (or contrived) as “The Decision,” but like the NBA in the hours before LeBron James announced he would take his skills to Miami, Major League Baseball waited anxiously to see where Tanaka would land.

Last week, the star Japanese pitcher picked the New York Yankees, a team that needed him badly and backed up its desperation by backing up a truckload of money. For $155 million, plus a $20 million posting fee, Tanaka was theirs, and the Yankees instantly became more interesting.

But did they really get better?

Only time, of course, will tell whether Tanaka’s fastball and world-renowned splitter translate as well Stateside as they did in Japan, where he went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last season and posted a 2.30 ERA over the past six years. But even if he’s more akin to Yu Darvish than Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Yankees rotation still looks like only the third-best in the five-team AL East, mostly because it lacks the depth of the Tampa Bay Rays and the Red Sox.

Tampa Bay retains the top spot only if Price isn’t traded before Opening Day, which seems less likely than when the offseason began. At 28, he is the best pitcher in the division, with a Cy Young Award already on his resume and an enormous payday waiting when he becomes a free agent after 2015.

Behind Price, the Rays have a homegrown pitching pipeline that is unmatched. Cobb, Moore and Archer were called up within the past three seasons, and Odorizzi is ready to join them, perhaps supplanting Hellickson, a former Rookie of the Year who struggled last season.

Six pitchers for five spots? No problem. The Sox’ run to the World Series title was best explained by their depth, and they’ve preserved it by resisting the offseason temptation to trade from their surplus, even with a handful of prospects nearly ready to graduate to the majors.

Unlike the Rays, they lack a true ace, although Lester pitched like one in the postseason. Buchholz always has ace potential but never stays healthy enough to pitch 200 innings.

Even if Sabathia has lost as much weight as it appears in his Instagram photos, the Yankees’ rotation is still top-heavy. It’s also loaded with questions. Can Sabathia rebound from the worst season of his career? Was 39-year-old Kuroda’s rough finish last season the beginning of the end? Can Tanaka get major league hitters out?

Nova was excellent for most of last season, and at 27, may be poised to take another step forward. But the No. 5 spot is a toss-up, and even if injury-riddled Pineda grabs it, the Yanks lack the minor league talent to compensate for the inevitable attrition that attacks every pitching staff.

In a radio interview last week, manager John Gibbons said it’s “50/50” that the Jays will add another starter. They need one, almost as much as they need Dickey to be better. The 2012 NL Cy Young winner went only 14-13 with a 4.21 ERA in his return to the American League last year.

At 34, Buehrle also showed signs of slipping (12-10, 4.15 ERA). Morrow is the Jays’ version of Buchholz, never healthy enough to throw 200 innings. And the back end of the rotation is filled with uncertainty, with Rogers, Hutchinson or equally unproven Kyle Drabek, Jeremy Jeffress or Dustin McGowan competing for the No. 5 spot.

Baltimore may have the best lineup in the division, but not even Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Matt Wieters, JJ Hardy and Nick Markakis can overcome this pitching. How sad.

The Orioles don’t have anyone resembling an ace, and by the time Gausman and fellow top prospect Dylan Bundy may achieve that status, most of the offensive stars will be out of their primes or the organization. There isn’t a team that has a greater need for Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana or even Bronson Arroyo, any of whom would front the rotation and push Tillman, Gonzalez, Norris and Chen back where they belong.

Healthy outlook for Grady

When center fielder Grady Sizemore was coming up with the Indians, Red Sox manager John Farrell was Cleveland’s farm director. But an even bigger drawing card for Sizemore to sign the Sox last week may have been his relationship with head athletic trainer Rick Jameyson, who spent 20 years with the Indians before joining the Sox in 2012.

Sizemore’s career has been short-circuited by nine surgical procedures since 2009, including microfracture surgery on both knees. Surely, a familiar face on the training staff will be a bonus, and the Sox are working with Sizemore on a program to keep him healthy enough to compete with rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. for a roster spot.

“We’ll get more involved in his program in the next couple weeks,” general manager Ben Cherington said. “He’ll head to Fort Myers sometime before spring training, and we’ll be more hands on with him there.”

Farrell: Play it again

Farrell favors the expanded replay rules that allow managers to challenge up to one play in the first six innings. But he also anticipates a few glitches as the system is implemented.

“We know that this is Year 1 and fully expect there’s going to be adjustments made until a final challenge system is in place,” Farrell said. “But I think in the end everyone wants to get calls right, and if this is another tool that we have to use, we’re better off for it.”

The Sox expect to hire a video specialist who will watch games from the clubhouse and have access to every possible replay angle. They also will devise a system whereby the video specialist can alert the dugout if a play contested by Farrell is worth challenging.

Bye-bye to the beards

A new season requires a new look, at least according to Jonny Gomes, who intends to shave his famously scraggly beard before spring training.

“The beard’s coming off,” the Red Sox left fielder said. “Oh, yeah.”

Last spring, Gomes was the catalyst behind the runaway growth that became a team-wide trend. Before long, Mike Napoli, David Ross, Mike Carp and others were sporting full beards.

“Baseball season is not a cookie-cutter,” Gomes said. “You can’t win last year. It’s a clean slate. You’ve got to highlight-delete the good, bad and in between.”

So Gomes is ready to retire the beard, the American flag shorts and all the other quirky team-bonding ideas he hatched during the Sox’ World Series run. Asked if he has in mind anything for 2014, he laughed.

“I’m running out of shenanigans,” Gomes said.

Want to bet he comes up with something? . . .

If Gomes was king — or at least commissioner — he’d allow players to spend one day with the World Series trophy, like NHL champions with the Stanley Cup.

“I’ve got a few friends back home (in Petaluma, Calif.) who’d sign on for that,” he said. . . .

Finally, the best line at the 75th annual Boston Baseball Writers dinner Thursday night came from the monotonal Cherington: “A lot of the writers think I’m boring, so I’m going to go all Richard Sherman on you.”